Medical Ethics

Scott High School, 2012-1013

Instructor: Ms. Michelle N. Buroker

Contact Information: 859-960-1601

Science Department, Room: 226

Text: To be provided by the instructor

My email:

My website:

*Available for after school tutoring Monday- Thursday 2:30- 4:00 … see me for an appointment!!

Course Description

This course is an introduction to biomedical ethics. The first part of the course provides an introduction to basic ethical theory, which is intended to serve as a background aid for thinking through the particular issues discussed in the remainder of the course. Specific topics to be discussed include confidentiality and truth-telling in the doctor/patient relationship, medical experimentation and informed consent, abortion, treatment decisions for seriously ill infants, physician assisted suicide, and health care reform.

Course Objectives

  • The students will develop an understanding of a number of the most important ethical questions in contemporary medical practice.
  • The students will develop their ability to recognize the connections, both philosophical and legal, between anumber of issues in medical practice that are oftentreated as if they wereunrelated.
  • The students will be able to reflect critically on the readings for the course and its subject matters and themes.
  • The students will develop their ability to express their critical reflections in clear and precise prose.

Topics to Be Covered

*These are only a few of the many topics to be discussed- all will be discussed from the medical field’s standpoint and the ethical issues each one presents.

EthicsStem Cell Research/ TreatmentAbortion Physician Assisted Suicide Politics of Death Cloning

Necessary Materials

1. A folder for this class only … I will provide all reading materials and you will not want to

misplaced them!

2. Loose leaf notebook paper or notebook … for note taking

3. Pencil or Pen

4. Notebook/ Journal … this will be used as your journal which will be a major part of your

grade for this class.

Class Expectations

The 3 B’s of Ms. Buroker’s Classroom

1. BE prepared!

* Come to class with the necessary attitudes and materials to be successful. Don’t make excuses; just do what’s expected of you!

2. BE respectful!

* Please do not mishandle and misuse class property- it won’t last long if we don’t take care of it! Please treat our classroom with respect, it may be old, but it’s all we’ve got for right now!

* Chemistry is the only work you are permitted to do during my class- if you are found working on another class, I will collect what you are doing and give it to the appropriate teacher.

* Do unto others as you would have them do unto you … the Golden Rule!

3. BE honest!

* Cheating will result in a zero for all parties involved. Talking during tests and quizzes will automatically be considered cheating. Homework copied from another student is also considered cheating.

Additional Procedures:

Hall Passes: These are only issued in cases of Emergencies Only! You must sign out of class and any trip to the restroom need not exceed 4 minutes. Take care of business before and after class- trips to the office, etc.

Absences: If you have an excused absence from class, you are responsible for any work/notes you miss. I will have a folder for your class in the front of my room; work that you miss will be placed in that folder at the end of each day, and you are responsible for retrieving the information and completing it in a timely manner.

Late Work: On the day an assignment is due, should you be unprepared to turn it in, you must retrieve a “Missing Work Log” sheet from the front of the room, fill it out, and turn it in along with the rest of the class. The policy in my classroom is that an assignment will receive a deduction of 5% of the total points for each day it is late.

Tests: IF you miss a test, you are responsible for coming in after school to take the test: you have up to two weeks after the test is missed to do this- after this amount of time has passed, the grade remains a zero. We all learn at a different pace, while I will always encourage you to stay “on top” of the material, if you are not happy with a grade earned, you may study and re-take another test over the same material and the two grades will be averaged together. This must be done within two weeks of the end of the trimester. At the end of the trimester, your lowest test score will be dropped.

Grades

The majority of your grade will come from your journal and class participation. When discussing ethics, there are no problems in which we plug in numbers and get a definite right or wrong so much of what we will discuss is subjective and will require your familiarity with the cases we are going to discuss. Every day, you will receive 2 participation points, in order to receive these points you much participate in class discussion each day. If you do not speak up, you receive a zero. In order to have something to day, you’ll have to complete all readings you are assigned. The other part of your grade will come from your journal: your journal is to be a notebook with no other class assignments or notes contained in it … it is for this class only! You will place responses to readings, cases, homework, reflections, etc in this journal and I will collect it and grade it regularly. Let me give you an example: I might assign you a reading and first thing in class, ask you to write a directed reflection to what was discussed … if you don’t do the reading, your journal entry will receive a poor grade and you will not be able to participate in class discussions. Lastly, there will be several major papers you will be asked to write which will take the place of tests; therefore, they will be scored heavily.

Gifted and Talented Service Option:

All students who are identified as gifted/talented in the areas of general intellect, creativity, leadership, and/or science will be offered a service option as part of classroom instruction. In this class, they are receiving the AP/Honors Course service option. There are also leadership opportunities to be had during group work and creativity opportunities during some projects.

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